WEBVTT MEDIA, I COULD MEAN SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.REPORTER: AS YOU LAY OUT AT THE BEACH THIS SUMMER OR FIRE UP THEGRILL, THE LAST THING YOU MIGHT BE THINKING ABOUT IS SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY.BUT WITH THE SHIFT IN SEASON, A SHIFT IN STRATEGY.>> THE INTERNET IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE IN THE FOREFRONT.WE'LL ALWAYS BE CATCHING UP TO IT.IF YOU HAVE A FRIEND THAT CLICKED ON SOMETHING THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE AN NOW THEY'RE SHARING A COUPON SCAM OR PHISHING PAGE YOU'RE MORE LIKELYTO CLICK ON SOMETHING WHEN IT COMES FROM SOMEONE YOU KNOW.REPORTER: ONE OF THE DRAWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA, THE CONNECTION YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL.WHEN IT COMES TO DEALS ON SEASONAL THINGS, IT'S SOMETHING MANY RELATE TO.ZACH ALLEN IS DIRECTOR AT THE SOCIAL MEDIA FIRM ZERO FOX AND SHOWS US SOME OF THE NEWEST TACTICS BEING USED.>> IT WILL GIVE YOU FAKE PICTURES, FAKE NAMES.YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THEM WITH DATA.THIS PERSON WENT THROUGH AND MADE A FAKE FACEBOOK FEED AT THEBOTTOM.REPORTER: IT'S EASIER THAN EVER TO SPREAD IT WITH SHARE BUTTONS EMBEDDED RIGHT INTO THE QUOTE UNQUOTE DEAL.TO HELP PROTECT YOURSELF CHECK YOUR PRIVACY SETTINGS.CONSIDER USING THINGS LIKE PASSWORD MANAGERS.TRY NOT THE OVERSHARE THE FACT THAT YOU'RE AWAY FROM HOME.SOMETIMES IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO LEARN A WHOLE LOT.>> WE USE OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE.THINGS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET.YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TOGET THEM.WHEN YOU COLLECT ALL OF THOSE TOGETHER YOU MAY HAVE SOMETHING JUICY ENOUGH TO TAKE OVER SOMEONE.REPORTER: IT'S A POTENTIAL HEADACHE YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED

Wednesday is the first official day of summer, which for many people means vacation and travel, but on social media, it could mean something different.

If you lay out at the beach or fire up the grill, the last thing you might be thinking about is social media safety, but with the shift in season, there is a shift in strategy.

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"The internet is always going to be on the forefront, so we're always going to be catching up to it," said Zack Allen, director of Threat Intelligence at ZeroFOX. "If you have a friend that clicked on something they shouldn't have and now they're sharing a coupon scam or a phishing page, you're a lot more likely to click something when it comes from someone you know."

It's one of the draws of social media: that connection a person is supposed to feel, and when it comes to deals on vacations, hotels, sunglasses and other seasonal things, it's something many relate to.

Allen showed WBAL-TV 11 News some of the newest tactics being used.

"It'll give you fake pictures, fake names and fake comments, and you can kind of seed them with data," Allen said. "This person actually went through and made a fake Facebook feed at the bottom."

It's easier than ever to spread harmful content with share buttons embedded right into the "deal."

To help protect yourself, they say to check privacy settings and consider using things like password managers. You should also try not to overshare the fact you're on vacation and away from home.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to learn a whole lot.

"We use a term called open-source intelligence. Things that are available on the internet and you don't have to do anything malicious to go get them, but when you collect all of those together, you may have something juicy enough to take over someone," Allen said.

It's a potential headache someone would not want to deal with when you're supposed to be enjoying vacation.